This invention relates to a system and method for transmitting equipment installation data between an equipment installer and an operations center server.
Many businesses operate fleets of vehicles and equipment scattered across wide geographic areas for handling a variety of tasks, such as material delivery, construction, equipment installation and maintenance. For example, a large telecommunications service provider may operate a fleet of vehicles for traveling throughout a wide geographic area for installing wireline and wireless telecommunications systems. Often, operators of such fleets of vehicles and equipment install equipment items such as remote monitoring devices and alarm systems in each of the vehicles for transmitting data to a home operations center associated with the status of the vehicles or equipment. For example, a remote monitoring device may be used to transmit location data received from a global positioning satellite system, or an alarm system may be provided in a vehicle or equipment item to allow a user of the vehicle or equipment item to activate an alarm that is transmitted to the operations center if the operator is in distress.
In a typical setting, an installation person installs the remote monitoring device or alarm system in the vehicle or equipment item and then calls an operations center to provide the operations center with identification information associated with both the remote monitoring device and the vehicle or equipment item so that signaling received from the remote monitoring device is properly related to the vehicle or equipment item in which it is installed. Testing of the alarm system is necessary to ensure that the alarm system will be operational and available upon the need of a subsequent operator of the vehicle or equipment item. Typically, a person working in the remote operations center must receive the data from the equipment installer and load the information into a database at the remote operations center. Furthermore, when the installer tests the alarm system associated with the vehicle or equipment item, a person manning the operations center must detect the alarm signal, determine whether the alarm test is successful, and relay that information back to the equipment installer at the vehicle or equipment item. This process is time-consuming and requires that human operators work in the operations center around the clock to receive data from equipment installers and to test alarm systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automated system for allowing an equipment installer to provide installation data and to conduct alarm testing without the need for direct communication with personnel at an operations center. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.
Embodiments of the present invention solve the above and other problems by providing a system and method for transmitting equipment installation data between an equipment installer and an operations center server. An installer of equipment, such as a monitoring device attached to a vehicle or other equipment item, for example a fleet of maintenance vehicles for maintaining equipment in a telecommunications system, calls an operations center server via a wireless telecommunications device, such as a wireless telephone. The call placed by the equipment installer is transmitted over a wireless telecommunications system to a transfer server. At the transfer server, a data link connection is established between the transfer server and the operations system server for transferring data received by the installer to the operations center server. A voice-to-data software application at the transfer server receives voice communication from the equipment installer and converts the communication to data for transfer to the operations center server.
Once a communications link is established with the operations center server, the server prompts the equipment installer with a series of prompts to obtain equipment installation information from the equipment installer. Prompts from the operations center server are transmitted in data over the data link to the transfer server where the prompts are converted to voice before being transmitted to the equipment installer""s wireless telephone. The equipment installer responds to prompts from the operations center server with required installation information, such as equipment identification numbers, vehicle identification numbers, remote monitoring device identification numbers, and the like. The responses from the equipment installer are received by the transfer server and are converted to data before being transmitted to the operations center server.
Once the desired equipment is installed in the vehicle or equipment item, other tests such as an alarm test may be performed. An alarm system test may be performed by activating an alarm system at the vehicle or equipment item to transmit a wireless signal directly to the operations center server. If the operations center server detects the alarm test as a successful test, a response is forwarded back to the equipment installer via the transfer server to notify the equipment installer that the test was successful. On the other hand, if the test is not successful, a notification that the test is not successful is forwarded to the equipment installer.